The Career Tip To Follow Your Passion: Is It Bunk?

Career coaches often say that if you’re looking for a job or want to change careers you should “follow your passion.” In fact, Next Avenue’s work and volunteering blogger Nancy Collamer recently wrote a piece telling you how to do it. But could the whole notion of following your passion be bunk?

Yup, according to Cal Newport, the author of the new, buzzy book, So Good They Can’t Ignore You. (The title comes from advice Steve Martin gives to aspiring entertainers.)

Become a Craftsman at Work

He maintains that pre-existing passions are rare. Trying to determine your passion and follow it, Newport says, can be dangerous and lead to chronic job-hopping. You’d be much better off, he believes, improving and stretching your “rare and valuable” skills to become a “craftsman.” That will make you a stronger job candidate and help you have a successful career.

I have to admit I was a little disturbed to see Newport throwing cold water on the “follow your passion” idea. After all, many people in their 50s or 60s are working in fields they never loved, maybe even never liked, and are eager to make a switch for personal satisfaction. Others have lost jobs that didn't enthuse them and now hope to find work aligned with a particular interest or passion.

Since Newport’s book is aimed primarily at young people starting out in their careers, I called him to hear his argument for midlifers. And I confess I reluctantly came away a believer.

Career Advice for Midlifers

“If you’re 50 or 60, you have built up very valuable skills,” said Newport, who is in his early ‘30s and an assistant professor of computer science at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. "Don’t discount them.”

When you’re plotting your next career move, “work backwards from your skills,” Newport said. “Ask yourself: What skills do I have and how rare and valuable are they? The intersection of your rare skills and what interests you is what should start your job hunt, not introspection about what you’re ‘meant to do.’”

Introspection Is Overrated

Introspection is highly overrated, Newport maintains. “There’s no one, true calling that you're meant to follow, one passion entwined in your DNA that you’ll discover if you’re introspective enough,” he said. (If you’re interested in other job-seeking goofs, I recommend the new Forbes article by Jacquelyn Smith, “13 Big Mistakes Job Seekers Make and How to Avoid Them.”)

Newport says it’s important to “deliberately stretch yourself past your comfort zone” at your job, since this will make you more valuable. “I’m an academic and my advisers in their 50s and 60s are constantly tackling complicated fields like abstract mathematics and systematically stretching themselves. They’re able to do things way better than I am.”